Alcione
By Joschua Knüppe ; retrieved from http://www.pteros.com/, a website dedicated to education about Pterosaurs.
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Name: Alcione elainus
First Described: 2018
Described By: Longrich et al.
Classification: Avemetatarsalia, Ornithodira, Pterosauromorpha, Pterosauria, Macronychoptera, Novialoidea, Breviquartossa, Pterodactylomorpha, Monofenestrata, Pterodactyliformes, Caelidracones, Pterodactyloidea, Eupterodactyloidea, Ornithocheiroidea, Pteranodontoidea, Pteranodontia, Nyctosauridae
In 2018, an incredibly productive fossil locality was reported from the phosphate beds of Morocco. Dating to the very end of the Cretaceous( about 66 million years ago), a wealth of pterosaur fossils have been recovered from it. One of these is Alcione. Alcione is a small nyctosaurid, with a 2 meter wingspan, known from a ton of bones. It has proportionally short and robust wings, with shortened wing fingers - a stark contrast to the incredibly long wings of Nyctosaurus. Interestingly, there is variation in the shape of some of the bones such as the humerus, possibly an indicator of age, sexual dimorphism, or multiple species of Alcione. Because of its short wings, Alcione is thought to have possibly been a plunge-diver, diving into the water to grab fish.
Source:
Longrich, N.R., Martill, D., Andres, B. 2018. Late Maastrichtian pterosaurs from North Africa and mass extinction of Pterosauria at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. PLOS Biology 16(4): e1002627.
